Tesla Autopilot involved in hundreds of accidents, including fatal ones

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has published data on accidents involving Tesla cars with Autopilot turned on. It turns out that the system has been involved in almost 1,000 accidents in recent years. However, the drivers themselves are primarily to blame.

Tesla Autopilot and accidents

Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that from January 2018 to August 2023, there were 956 car accidents involving Tesla Autopilot. Unfortunately, several dozen of them ended with the death of one of the participants.

Is it Tesla's fault? It's hard to blame the company itself in this situation. It is rather the stupidity of drivers who do not fully understand how Autopilot works. Many of them think that it is a fully independent system that drives the car even better than they do. In fact, it is only a form of support and assistance for the driver.

The NHTSA cited several cases in which drivers could have easily avoided accidents, but it put too much faith in Autopilot's capabilities. Therefore, the Agency reminds that Tesla cars are equipped with level two autopilot. It can accelerate, brake, change lanes and stay in the current lane on its own, but at the same time it requires the driver's constant attention and hands on the steering wheel.

Moreover, in several dozen cases, the autopilot lost traction due to weather conditions. In turn, in 55 cases, the driver mistakenly deactivated the Autopilot but thought it was still active, which led to the accident.